Langauge of Love
by Sera Terranova
Summary: This short story elaborates on an event that occurs near the end of Layers of Deception.


This short story elaborates on events that occur near the end of Layers of Deception.

* * *

The most feared woman in the galaxy, Trin the Revan, sat curled up on a window seat reading a romantic novel. Her secret passion for mushy stories with happy endings had surprised her lover, Carth Onasi. The former republic captain had not expected the redeemed Dark Lord of the Sith to have such a frilly secret. She in turn had been surprised by his penchant for puzzles, a habit he claimed warded off boredom during hyperspace jumps. They'd had a lot of time to pursue their hobbies. For nearly a year they'd been cooling their heels on Ordo while Bastila and Juhani tried to arrange to have Trin, that is, the Revan address the Republic Senate. Despite the frustration of dealing with the Republic's ponderous bureaucracy, they'd enjoyed having a time of relative idleness. 

Trin triggered the downward scroll to view the next page of the saccharine heroine's efforts to save her dearest love from the clutches of a scheming gold-digger.

She expected to have most of the afternoon to herself. Carth's son, Dustil, and his Jedi Master, Jolee Bindo, had returned from their jungle retreat for a visit. She left Dustil and Carth plenty of time alone during their visits; they needed a chance to reform the bond that war, distance and time had torn to shreds. So, the knock on her suite's doors took Trin by surprise. Muttering to herself she put the datapad aside, shrugged on an over-robe and went to greet her visitor. She flung the door open and stood with her mouth hanging open at the sight of Dustil with his arms full of flowers.

"Dustil, what what in the name of the Force is all this?"

"Flowers, do you have somewhere I can put them down?"

"Yes, of course, sorry." She ushered him into the room and directed him to lay his bundle down on the table. "Dustil?"

Dustil eyed her uncertainly, although they had developed a more comfortable relationship over the last few months he seemed nervous today. "Trin, are you familiar with Telosian flower language?"

"Flower language? No, not at all."

"Ah, well, let me explain." He said as he rubbed his hands together and smiled widely. "There was a time when every letter sent from one Telosian to another was accompanied by the appropriate flower. The color and size of the bloom indicated a type and depth of emotion."

Trin nodded.

"Red meant anger, blue - regret, black - mourning, yellow - friendliness, pink - new love, white - purity and true love and orange - passionate love. There are more, but I don't remember them all. Over time the use of flower language was limited to formal and serious messages. As the practice lost it's popularity in daily use the prestige associated with giving, receiving and carrying such messages increased. For certain messages, only a family friend or relative might serve. I am here to deliver a flower message and as I suspected you might not be aware of the appropriate responses I also brought a selection of flowers for you to send a return message with."

"What is this message, Dustil?"

He handed her a large orange bloom. "I am here to persuade you to accept my father's proposal of marriage."

Trin sat down abruptly, she felt as though someone had knocked the breath out of her. "Why didn't he just ask me?" She asked in a plaintive small voice.

"On Telos, it is believed that a person who does not have a friend willing to carry an orange bloom isn't worth marrying." He grinned. "Besides I wanted to carry his betrothal bloom to you and plead his case."

"Plead his case?" She asked dazedly.

"Yes." Dustil cleared his throat self-consciously and stood up straight. "My father, Carth, is a good man who values you for your heroism and beauty. He is a strong, honorable man who wants to spend the rest of his life by your side."

"Dustil, we… I don't want to come between you and your father. Are you sure you can accept me?"

"I brought the flowers to father unasked, Trin.

With tears in her eyes Trin said quietly, "Thank you, Dustil."

Dustil looked at his feet and nodded. To break the awkward silence he said wryly, "To be honest, by Telosian standards, the way the two of you have been carrying on is quite shocking."

Trin actually blushed. "Okay, how do I respond?"

"To accept his proposal, send him an orange bloom. Then you can't see each other until the ceremony two days from now."

"Two days! But, I need to talk to Carth before… he can't have thought this through… he can't …" Trin took a deep breath. "Dustil, I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm a marked woman."

Dustil shrugged, "I don't think he cares. He wants to be with you." He bit his lip and looked her in the eye. "I was confused and angry on Telos but a good friend there put it all in perspective for me. Yergi said that he'd give anything to see his family again. He also said that the survivors best serve those they lost by picking up and carrying on. He believes that through living the kind of lives they'd want for us, we honor their memories. Trin, I've come to realize that you and my father belong together. My mother… my mother was a kind woman; she would not have wanted my father to mourn her forever."

"Dustil, how… how can you possibly…" she shook her head unable to voice the hope hadn't even dreamed could be fulfilled.

"Trin, I have to forgive you and Malak and all the Sith. I have to, otherwise I can't forgive myself. I committed atrocities too; all that differed was the scale. My intentions and desires were no more or less cruel than those of my fellow students or any of the Sith."

She twirled the bloom between her fingers and let the whirl of color hypnotize her. "I don't know what I should do."

"Do you want to marry him?"

"It's not that sim…"

Dustil interrupted her, "Do you want to marry him?"

"Dustil, you…"

Dustil interrupted her again, "Do you want to marry him?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Dustil grabbed up the bundle of flowers and walked out the door. "Two days," he reminded her as the door closed on his heels.

* * *

Two days later standing before the doors to the great hall of Ordo she still didn't feel certain. If only she'd had a chance to talk to Carth. Telosian traditions were very romantic but not terribly reassuring. She hoped that she would be able to remember the vows that Bastila had brought to her the day before. She'd been tempted to write them on her arm, unfortunately, her golden toned suede dress had elbow length sleeves. 

A gong sounded and the doors were pulled open, Trin stepped over the threshold into the soft incense. Her eyes traveled past Zaalbar's stoic face, Mission's gleeful grin and Jolee's smug smirk to where Bastila and Juhani sat. The two Jedi smiled benignly; their gentle expressions were a sweet benediction. Canderous sat with his wife Ariad beyond the Jedi. He had set aside Mandalore's helm and armor to don his people's version of day wear, light armor.

The gong sounded again and the doors on the far side of the hall opened to reveal her groom, someone had dressed him in gold toned suede, too. He looked too wonderful for words. They shared a nervous smile then walked forward to meet in front of the hearth. They faced the witnesses for a moment to acknowledge their presence.

Carth and Trin each took a deep breath then turned to face each other and spoke in unison, "The armid vine is a delicate plant, in the spring it becomes a cloud of small pink blooms. About half these blooms shrivel and die in the rain, but the others grow larger, their color deepens and their scent fills the air. It is these later mature blooms that carry on the plant's life-cycle. We have both known love and loss, through many trials we have come to this place in our lives." They lifted the crowns of armid vines Dustil had picked for them and put them on each other's heads. "We vow before this assemblage to face each challenge together, to support each other in times of trial, to share our joys and our burdens as long as we both live."

"As long as you both live," echoed the witnesses.

They shared a kiss amidst the roaring approval of the crowd of well-wishers.

"Thank you beautiful." Carth whispered in her ear. "I'm glad we had a Telosian ceremony, all that Deralian flower language stuff confuses me."

Trin stepped back, "Deralian flower language? Dustil told me the flower language was an ancient Telosian custom."

"What!" Carth stood with his jaw hanging open for a moment and stared at an equally flabbergasted Trin.

"Carth, I... I'm sure..." Trin started to say.

Carth grabbed her hand and rubbed it reassuringly then turned and in his best drill sergeant's voice hollered, "Dustil!"

Mission, Jolee and Zaalbar followed Dustil as he made his way jauntily to the front of the hall.

Carth raised an eyebrow enquiringly at Dustil and his entourage.

"Father, you didn't want to make Trin choose between you and the Order, she didn't want to intrude between us. Someone had to do something."

"You mean you just made up this whole flower language thing to get us to the altar?"

Jolee chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no, that was my idea. It **is** an ancient tradition."

Zaalbar rumbled in agreement.

Mission elaborated, "It's an ancient Wookiee custom, very very honorable and," she sighed, "very romantic, don't you think. Well once you get rid of the prize kill part of it."

Zaalbar roared discontentedly at his diminutive friend.

"I keep telling you, Big Z, they'd have never bought it."

Trin tried to frown at them; she tried to feel angry but the humor of the situation won out over the annoyance of being manipulated.

Carth shook his head in disbelief, "So who proposed?"

Jolee grinned, "Technically speaking, Dustil proposed to Trin on your behalf first then he proposed to you on her behalf."

Trin looked worriedly up into Carth's eyes, "I…if you…"

He kissed her then whispered, "There's no backing out now, gorgeous. I love you."

She grinned in relief. "I love you, too."

Zaalbar howled.

"Okay, okay," said Mission, "let's go hit the buffet table and leave the lovebirds alone."

Carth put a hand on Dustil's shoulder to keep him from following the others. "Thank you, son."

Dustil grinned merrily at them both then headed for the food.

Carth put an arm around Trin; she tucked into him compliantly.

"What now, husband of mine?" She asked teasingly.

"Well, wife of mine, I think we should sneak off and share a few of those joys we mentioned earlier."


End file.
